Where: Bowness-on-Solway Roman fort at the west end of Hadrian's wall, at NY225628. R&C argued that Maio and Maia in the Cosmography were the same and the duplication arose simply because the Cosmographer took the name twice off his source(s) when approaching a coastal location in an area densely packed with names. That seems likely, but it gives RC a slightly uncomfortable track across the map, so the possibility cannot be excluded that Maio was a distinct place, conceivably so named for fulfilling a similar function further south in Cumbria.

Name origin: It is not certain, as R&S explained, what is the best form to cite for the nominative singular of this name. Latin maior ‘greater’ (in its neuter form maius) and/or the Roman goddess of nurturing Maia (from Greek μαια ‘good mother, foster mother’) would fit the second-largest fort on the Wall as a location to which stores could be brought by sea to supply troops on the Wall, as explained clearly here. However, the name may have originated in Roman law, where the term imperium maius has been much discussed by historians. Its classic example was the power given to Pompey to stamp out piracy in the eastern Mediterranean. The obvious guess here is that Bowness was the natural location for a commander-in-chief given supreme authority over Roman interests in the Irish Sea and into the Solway estuary.

Notes: R&S unwisely dragged in Maiona, which was further north, near the Isle of Mull.

You may copy this text freely, provided you acknowledge its source as www.romaneranames.uk, recognise that it is liable to human error, and try to offer suggestions for improvement.Last edited: 2 October 2018